2 Alaska Health Workers Got Emergency Treatment After Receiving Pfizer’s Vaccine
One of the workers, who did not have a history of allergies, remained in the hospital on Wednesday night. Some reactions to the vaccine were also reported last week in Britain.
Vaccines being prepared in Fargo, N.D., on Monday. The reaction was believed to be similar to the reactions two health workers in Britain experienced after receiving the Pfizer vaccine last week. They both recovered.
Vaccines being prepared in Fargo, N.D., on Monday. The reaction was believed to be similar to the reactions two health workers in Britain experienced after receiving the Pfizer vaccine last week. They both recovered.Credit…Tim Gruber for The New York Times
By Noah Weiland, Sharon LaFraniere, Mike Baker and Katie Thomas
Published Dec. 16, 2020Updated Dec. 17, 2020, 5:42 a.m. ET
Two health care workers at the same hospital in Alaska developed concerning reactions just minutes after receiving Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine this week, including one staff member who was to remain hospitalized until Thursday.
Health officials said that the cases would not disrupt their vaccine rollout plans and that they were sharing the information for the sake of transparency.
The first worker, a middle-aged woman who had no history of allergies, had an anaphylactic reaction that began 10 minutes after receiving the vaccine at Bartlett Regional Hospital in Juneau on Tuesday, a hospital official said. She experienced a rash over her face and torso, shortness of breath and an elevated heart rate.
Dr. Lindy Jones, the hospital’s emergency department medical director, said the worker was first given a shot of epinephrine, a standard treatment for severe allergic reactions. Her symptoms subsided but then re-emerged, and she was treated with steroids and an epinephrine drip.
When doctors tried to stop the drip, her symptoms re-emerged yet again, so the woman was moved to the intensive care unit, observed throughout the night, then weaned off the drip early Wednesday morning, Dr. Jones said.
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Dr. Jones had said earlier Wednesday that the woman was set to be discharged in the evening, but the hospital said late Wednesday that she was remaining another night.
The second worker received his shot on Wednesday and developed eye puffiness, lightheadedness and a scratchy throat 10 minutes after the injection, the hospital said in a statement. He was taken to the emergency room and treated with epinephrine, Pepcid and Benadryl, although the hospital said the reaction was not considered anaphylaxis. The worker was back to normal within an hour and released.
The hospital, which had administered 144 total doses as of Wednesday night, said both workers did not want their experiences to have a negative impact on others lining up for the vaccine.
“We have no plans to change our vaccine schedule, dosing or regimen,” Dr. Anne Zink, Alaska’s chief medical officer, said in a statement.
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Although the Pfizer vaccine was shown to be safe and about 95 percent effective in a clinical trial involving 44,000 participants, the Alaska cases will likely intensify concerns about possible side effects. Experts said the developments may prompt calls for tighter guidelines to ensure that recipients were carefully monitored for adverse reactions.
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Dr. Paul A. Offit, a vaccine expert and member of an outside advisory panel that recommended the Food and Drug Administration authorize the Pfizer vaccine for emergency use, said the appropriate precautions were already in place. For instance, he said, the requirement that recipients remain in place for 15 minutes after getting the vaccine helped ensure the woman was quickly treated.
“I don’t think this means we should pause” vaccine distribution, he said. “Not at all.” But he said researchers need to figure out “what component of the vaccine is causing this reaction.”
Dr. Jay Butler, a top infectious-disease expert with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said the Alaska situation showed that the monitoring system worked. The agency has recommended that the vaccine be administered in settings that have supplies, including oxygen and epinephrine, to manage anaphylactic reactions.
The New York Times